Guaa

ABSTRACT

The invention provides guaA polypeptides and polynucleotides encoding guaA polypeptides and methods for producing such polypeptides by recombinant techniques. Also provided are methods for utilizing guaA polypeptides to screen for antibacterial compounds.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/066,350 filed Nov. 21, 1997.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to newly identified polynucleotides and polypeptides, and their production and uses, as well as their variants, agonists and antagonists, and their uses. In particular, the invention relates to novel polynucleotides and polypeptides of the guaA (GMP synthetase) family, hereinafter referred to as “guaA”.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Streptococci make up a medically important genera of microbes known to cause several types of disease in humans, including, for example, otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospinal fluid. Since its isolation more than 100 years ago, Streptococcus pneumoniae has been one of the more intensively studied microbes. For example, much of our early understanding that DNA is, in fact, the genetic material was predicated on the work of Griffith and of Avery, Macleod and McCarty using this microbe. Despite the vast amount of research with S. pneumoniae, many questions concerning the virulence of this microbe remain. It is particularly preferred to employ Streptococcal genes and gene products as targets for the development of antibiotics.

The frequency of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections has risen dramatically in the past few decades. This has been attributed to the emergence of multiply antibiotic resistant strains and an increasing population of people with weakened immune systems. It is no longer uncommon to isolate Streptococcus pneumoniae strains which are resistant to some or all of the standard antibiotics. This phenomenon has created a demand for both new anti-microbial agents, vaccines, and diagnostic tests for this organism.

Clearly, there exists a need for factors, such as the guaA embodiments of the invention, that have a present benefit of being useful to screen compounds for antibiotic activity. Such factors are also useful to determine their role in pathogenesis of infection, dysfunction and disease. There is also a need for identification and characterization of such factors and their antagonists and agonists to find ways to prevent, ameliorate or correct such infection, dysfunction and disease.

Certain of the polypeptides of the invention possess amino acid sequence homology to a known B. subtilis guaA protein. See Swiss-prot, Accession Number P29727. Also see Borriss R, Porwollik S, Schroeter R. The 52 degrees-55 degrees segment of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome: a region devoted to purine uptake and metabolism, and containing the genes cotA, gabP and guaA and the pur gene cluster within a 34960 bp nucleotide sequence. Microbiology 1996 Nov; 142 ( Pt 11):3027-3031; and Mantsala P, Zalkin H. Cloning and sequence of Bacillus subtilis purA and guaA, involved in the conversion of IMP to AMP and GMP. J Bacteriol 1992 Mar.; 174(6):1883-1890.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide polypeptides that have been identified as novel guaA polypeptides by homology between the amino acid sequence set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO: 2] and a known amino acid sequence or sequences of other proteins such as B. subtilis guaA protein.

It is a further object of the invention to provide polynucleotides that encode guaA polypeptides, particularly polynucleotides that encode the polypeptide herein designated guaA.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the polynucleotide comprises a region encoding guaA polypeptides comprising a sequence set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:1] which includes a fill length gene, or a variant thereof.

In another particularly preferred embodiment of the invention there is a novel guaA protein from Streptococcus pneumoniae comprising the amino acid sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2], or a variant thereof.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a mature polypeptide expressible by the Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 strain contained in the deposited strain.

A further aspect of the invention there are provided isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding guaA, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae guaA, including mRNAs, cDNAs, genomic DNAs. Further embodiments of the invention include biologically, diagnostically, prophylactically, clinically or therapeutically useful variants thereof, and compositions comprising the same.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided the use of a polynucleotide of the invention for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes, in particular genetic immunization. Among the particularly preferred embodiments of the invention are naturally occurring allelic variants of guaA and polypeptides encoded thereby.

Another aspect of the invention there are provided novel polypeptides of Streptococcus pneumoniae referred to herein as guaA as well as biologically, diagnostically, prophylactically, clinically or therapeutically useful variants thereof, and compositions comprising the same.

Among the particularly preferred embodiments of the invention are variants of guaA polypeptide encoded by naturally occurring alleles of the guaA gene.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention there are provided methods for producing the aforementioned guaA polypeptides.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there are provided inhibitors to such polypeptides, useful as antibacterial agents, including, for example, antibodies.

In accordance with certain preferred embodiments of the invention, there are provided products, compositions and methods for assessing guaA expression, treating disease, assaying genetic variation, and administering a guaA polypeptide or polynucleotide to an organism to raise an immunological response against a bacteria, especially a Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria.

In accordance with certain preferred embodiments of this and other aspects of the invention there are provided polynucleotides that hybridize to guaA polynucleotide sequences, particularly under stringent conditions.

In certain preferred embodiments of the invention there are provided antibodies against guaA polypeptides.

In other embodiments of the invention there are provided methods for identifying compounds which bind to or otherwise interact with and inhibit or activate an activity of a polypeptide or polynucleotide of the invention comprising: contacting a polypeptide or polynucleotide of the invention with a compound to be screened under conditions to permit binding to or other interaction between the compound and the polypeptide or polynucleotide to assess the binding to or other interaction with the compound, such binding or interaction being associated with a second component capable of providing a detectable signal in response to the binding or interaction of the polypeptide or polynucleotide with the compound; and determining whether the compound binds to or otherwise interacts with and activates or inhibits an activity of the polypeptide or polynucleotide by detecting the presence or absence of a signal generated from the binding or interaction of the compound with the polypeptide or polynucleotide.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there are provided guaA agonists and antagonists, preferably bacteriostatic or bacteriocidal agonists and antagonists.

In a further aspect of the invention there are provided compositions comprising a guaA polynucleotide or a guaA polypeptide for administration to a cell or to a multicellular organism.

Various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the disclosed invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following descriptions and from reading the other parts of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to novel guaA polypeptides and polynucleotides as described in greater detail below. In particular, the invention relates to polypeptides and polynucleotides of a novel guaA of Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is related by amino acid sequence homology to B. subtilis guaA polypeptide. The invention relates especially to guaA having the nucleotide and amino acid sequences set out in Table 1 as SEQ ID NO: 1 and SEQ ID NO: 2 respectively, and to the guaA nucleotide sequences of the DNA in the deposited strain and amino acid sequences encoded thereby.

TABLE 1 guaA Polynucleotide and Polypeptide Sequences (A) Sequences from Streptococcus pneumoniae guA polynucleotide sequence [SEQ ID NO:1]. 5′-1 CTGATTTGCC AAGATGTAGA AAAAATCATC GGTATTGGGA CTATGGGTAG 51 CCAGTACAAC CAGCTGATTT CACGCCGTAT CCGTGAGATT GGTGTTTTTT 101 CAGAACTAAA AAGCCATAAA ATTTCAGCTG CTGAAGTTCG TGAAGTCAAT 151 CCTGTAGGAA TTATTCTATC AGGTGATCCA AATTCTGTAT ATGAAGATGG 201 TTCATTTGAC ATTGACCCAG AAATCTTCGA ACTAGGAATT CCAATTTTGG 251 GAATCTGTTA TGGTATGCAG TTATTGACCC ATAAACTTGG AGGAAAAGTT 301 GTTCCTGCAG GTGATGCTGG AAATCGTGAA TACGGTCAAT CAACCCTAAC 351 TCACACACCA TCAGCGCAAT TTGAATCAAC ACCTGATGAA CAGACTGTTT 401 TGATGAGCCA TGGTGATGCG GTTACTGAGA TTCCTGCTGA CTTTGTTCGT 451 ACAGGTACAT CAGCTGACTG CCCATACGCA GCCATCGAAA ACCCAGATAA 501 ACACATTTAC GGTATCCAAT TCCACCCAGA AGTTCGTCAT TCTGTATACG 551 GAAATGATAT CCTTCGTAAC TTTGCCCTTA ACATTTGTAA GGCTAAAGGT 601 GACTGGTCAA TGGATAATTT CATTGACATG CAGATCAAAA AAATTCGTGA 651 AACCGTCGGT GATAAACGTG TCCTTCTTGG TCTATCAGGT GGTGTTGACT 701 CATCTGTCGT TGGGGTTCTT CTCCAAAAAG CGATTGGCGA TCAATTGATC 751 TGTATCTTCG TAGACCACGG TCTTCTTCGT AAAGGCGAAG CTGATCAAGT 801 TATGGACATG CTCGGTGGTA AGTTTGGTTT GAATATCGTC AAAGCAGACG 851 CTGCTAAACG TTTCCTTGAC AAACTTGCTG GCGTTTCTGA CCCTGAACAA 901 AAACGTAAAA TCATCGGTAA CGAGTTTGTC TATGTATTCG ATGACGAAGC 951 AAGCAAGCTC AAAGATGTGA AATTCCTTGC TCAAGGTACT TTATATACAG 1001 ATGTTATCGA GTCTGGTACG GATACAGCTC AAACTATCAA GTCACACCAC 1051 AACGTGGGTG GTCTTCCAGA AGATATGCAG TTTGAATTGA TTGAACCACT 1101 CAATACTCTT TACAAGGATG AAGTTCGTGC TCTTGGTACA GAGCTTGGTA 1151 TGCCAGACCA TATCGTATGG CGCCAACCAT TCCCAGGACC AGGACTTGCT 1201 ATCCGTGTCA TGGGTGAAAT CACTGAAGAG AAACTTGAAA CCGTTCGTGA 1251 ATCAGACGCT ATTCTTCGTG AAGAAATCGC TAAAGCTGGA CTTGACCGCG 1301 ATATTTGGCA ATACTTCACT GTTAACACAG GCGTTCGTTC AGTCGGCGTT 1351 ATGGGTGACG GTCGTACGTA TGACTACACG ATTGCAATCC GTGCTATCAC 1401 TTCTATCGAT GGTATGACTG CTGATTTTGC CAAAATTCCA TGGGAAGTAC 1451 TTCAAAAAAT CTCAGTACGT ATCGTAAATG AAGTGGATCA TGTTAACCGT 1501 ATCGTCTACG ATATTACAAG TAAACCACCT GCAACAGTTG AGTGGGAATA 1551 A -3′ (B) Streptococcus pneumoniae guaA polypeptide sequence deduced from the polynucleotide sequence in this table [SEQ ID NO:2]. NH₂-1 LICQDVEKII GIGTMGSQYN QLISRRIREI GVFSELKSHK ISAAEVREVN 51 PVGIILSGDP NSVYEDGSFD IDPEIFELGI PILGICYGNQ LLTHKLGGKV 101 VPAGDAGNRE YGQSTLTHTP SAQFESTPDE QTVLMSHGDA VTEIPADFVR 151 TGTSADCPYA AIENPDKHIY GIQFHPEVRH SVYGNDILRN FALNICKAKG 201 DWSMDNFIDM QIKKIRETVG DKRVLLGLSG GVDSSVVGVL LQKAIGDQLI 251 CIFVDHGLLR KGEADQVMDM LGGKFGLNIV KADAAKRFLD KLAGVSDPEQ 301 KRKIIGNEFV YVFDDEASKL KDVKFLAQGT LYTDVIESGT DTAQTIKSHH 351 NVGGLPEDMQ FELIEPLNTL YKDEVRALGT ELGMPDHIVW RQPFPGPGLA 401 IRVNGEITEE KLETVRESDA ILREEIAKAG LDRDIWQYFT VNTGVRSVGV 451 MGDGRTYDYT IAIRAITSID GMTADFAKIP WEVLQKISVR IVNEVDHVNR 501 IVYDITSKPP ATVEWE -COOH

Deposited Materials

A deposit containing a Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 strain has been deposited with the National Collections of Industrial and Marine Bacteria Ltd. (herein “NCIMB”), 23 St. Machar Drive, Aberdeen AB2 IRY, Scotland on Apr. 11, 1996 and assigned deposit number 40794. The deposit was described as Streptococcus peumnoiae 0100993 on deposit. On Apr. 17, 1996, a Streptococcus peumnoiae 0100993 DNA library in E. coli was similarly deposited with the NCIMB and assigned deposit number 40800. The Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposit is referred to herein as “the deposited strain” or as “the DNA of the deposited strain.”

The deposited strain contains the full length guaA gene. The sequence of the polynucleotides contained in the deposited strain, as well as the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide encoded thereby, are controlling in the event of any conflict with any description of sequences herein.

The deposit of the deposited strain has been made under the terms of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for Purposes of Patent Procedure. The strain will be irrevocably and without restriction or condition released to the public upon the issuance of a patent. The deposited strain is provided merely as convenience to those of skill in the art and is not an admission that a deposit is required for enablement, such as that required under 35 U.S.C. §112.

A license may be required to make, use or sell the deposited strain, and compounds derived therefrom, and no such license is hereby granted.

Polypeptides

The polypeptides of the invention include a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2] (in particular the mature polypeptide) as well as polypeptides and fragments, particularly those which have the biological activity of guaA, and also those which have at least 70% identity to a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:1] or the relevant portion, preferably at least 80% identity to a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2 and more preferably at least 90% similarity (more preferably at least 90% identity) to a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2] and still more preferably at least 95% similarity (still more preferably at least 95% identity) to a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2] and also include portions of such polypeptides with such portion of the polypeptide generally containing at least 30 amino acids and more preferably at least 50 amino acids.

The invention also includes polypeptides of the formula:

X—(R₁)_(m)—(R₂)—(R₃)_(n)—Y

wherein, at the amino terminus, X is hydrogen, and at the carboxyl terminus, Y is hydrogen or a metal, R₁ and R₃ are any amino acid residue, m is an integer between 1 and 1000 or zero, n is an integer between 1 and 1000 or zero, and R₂ is an amino acid sequence of the invention, particularly an amino acid sequence selected from Table 1. In the formula above R₂ is oriented so that its amino terminal residue is at the left, bound to R₁, and its carboxy terminal residue is at the right, bound to R₃. Any stretch of amino acid residues denoted by either R group, where m and/or n is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer.

A fragment is a variant polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that entirely is the same as part but not all of the amino acid sequence of the aforementioned polypeptides. As with guaA polypeptides fragments may be “free-standing,” or comprised within a larger polypeptide of which they form a part or region, most preferably as a single continuous region, a single larger polypeptide.

Preferred fragments include, for example, truncation polypeptides having a portion of an amino acid sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2], or of variants thereof, such as a continuous series of residues that includes the amino terminus, or a continuous series of residues that includes the carboxyl terminus. Degradation forms of the polypeptides of the invention in a host cell, particularly a Streptococcus pneumoniae, are also preferred. Further preferred are fragments characterized by structural or functional attributes such as fragments that comprise alpha-helix and alpha-helix forming regions, beta-sheet and beta-sheet-forming regions, turn and turn-forming regions, coil and coil-forming regions, hydrophilic regions, hydrophobic regions, alpha amphipathic regions, beta amphipathic regions, flexible regions, surface-forming regions, substrate binding region, and high antigenic index regions.

Also preferred are biologically active fragments which are those fragments that mediate activities of guaA, including those with a similar activity or an improved activity, or with a decreased undesirable activity. Also included are those fragments that are antigenic or immunogenic in an animal, especially in a human. Particularly preferred are fragments comprising receptors or domains of enzymes that confer a function essential for viability of Streptococcus pneumoniae or the ability to initiate, or maintain cause disease in an individual, particularly a human.

Variants that are fragments of the polypeptides of the invention may be employed for producing the corresponding full-length polypeptide by peptide synthesis; therefore, these variants may be employed as intermediates for producing the full-length polypeptides of the invention.

In addition to the standard single and triple letter representations for amino acids, the term “X” or “Xaa” may also be used in describing certain polypeptides of the invention. “X” and “Xaa” mean that any of the twenty naturally occuring amino acids may appear at such a designated position in the polypeptide sequence.

Polynucleotides

Another aspect of the invention relates to isolated polynucleotides, including the full length gene, that encode the guaA polypeptide having a deduced amino acid sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2] and polynucleotides closely related thereto and variants thereof.

Using the information provided herein, such as a polynucleotide sequence set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO: 1], a polynucleotide of the invention encoding guaA polypeptide may be obtained using standard cloning and screening methods, such as those for cloning and sequencing chromosomal DNA fragments from bacteria using Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 cells as starting material, followed by obtaining a full length clone. For example, to obtain a polynucleotide sequence of the invention, such as a sequence given in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:1], typically a library of clones of chromosomal DNA of Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 in E. coli or some other suitable host is probed with a radiolabeled oligonucleotide, preferably a 17-mer or longer, derived from a partial sequence. Clones carrying DNA identical to that of the probe can then be distinguished using stringent conditions. By sequencing the individual clones thus identified with sequencing primers designed from the original sequence it is then possible to extend the sequence in both directions to determine the full gene sequence. Conveniently, such sequencing is performed using denatured double stranded DNA prepared from a plasmid clone. Suitable techniques are described by Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F. and Sambrook et al., MOLECULAR CLONING, A LABORATORY MANUAL, 2nd Ed.; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1989). (see in particular Screening By Hybridization 1.90 and Sequencing Denatured Double-Stranded DNA Templates 13.70). Illustrative of the invention, the polynucleotide set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:1] was discovered in a DNA library derived from Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993.

The DNA sequence set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:1] contains an open reading frame encoding a protein having about the number of amino acid residues set forth in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2] with a deduced molecular weight that can be calculated using amino acid residue molecular weight values well known in the art. The polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO: 1, between nucleotide number 1 and the stop codon which begins at nucleotide number 1549 of SEQ ID NO:1, encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2.

GuaA of the invention is structurally related to other proteins of the guaA (GMP synthetase) family, as shown by the results of sequencing the DNA encoding guaA of the deposited strain. See Swiss-prot, Accession Number P29727. Also see Borriss R, Porwollik S, Schroeter R. The 52 degrees-55 degrees segment of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome: a region devoted to purine uptake and metabolism, and containing the genes cota, gabP and guaA and the pur gene cluster within a 34960 bp nucleotide sequence. Microbiology 1996 Nov; 142 (Pt 11):3027-3031; and Mantsala P, Zalkin H. Cloning and sequence of Bacillus subtilis purA and guaA, involved in the conversion of IMP to AMP and GMP. J Bacteriol 1992 Mar; 174(6):1883-1890.

The invention provides a polynucleotide sequence identical over its entire length to a coding sequence in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:1]. Also provided by the invention is the coding sequence for the mature polypeptide or a fragment thereof, by itself as well as the coding sequence for the mature polypeptide or a fragment in reading frame with other coding sequence, such as those encoding a leader or secretory sequence, a pre-, or pro- or prepro- protein sequence. The polynucleotide may also contain noncoding sequences, including for example, but not limited to noncoding 5′ and 3′ sequences, such as the transcribed, non-translated sequences, termination signals, ribosome binding sites, sequences that stabilize mRNA, introns, polyadenylation signals, and additional coding sequence which encode additional amino acids. For example, a marker sequence that facilitates purification of the fused polypeptide can be encoded. In certain embodiments of the invention, the marker sequence is a hexa-histidine peptide, as provided in the pQE vector (Qiagen, Inc.) and described in Gentz et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 86: 821-824 (1989), or an HA tag (Wilson et al., Cell 37: 767 (1984). Polynucleotides of the invention also include, but are not limited to, polynucleotides comprising a structural gene and its naturally associated sequences that control gene expression.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is a polynucleotide of comprising nucleotide 1 to the nucleotide immediately upstream of or including nucleotide 1549 set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 of Table 1, both of which encode the guaA polypeptide.

The invention also includes polynucleotides of the formula:

X—(R₁)_(m)—(R₂)—(R₃)_(n)—Y

wherein, at the 5′ end of the molecule, X is hydrogen, and at the 3′ end of the molecule, Y is hydrogen or a metal, R₁ and R₃ is any nucleic acid residue, m is an integer between 1 and 3000 or zero, n is an integer between 1 and 3000 or zero, and R₂ is a nucleic acid sequence of the invention, particularly a nucleic acid sequence selected from Table 1. In the polynucleotide formula above R₂ is oriented so that its 5′ end residue is at the left, bound to R₁, and its 3′end residue is at the right, bound to R₃. Any stretch of nucleic acid residues denoted by either R group, where m and/or n is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer. In a preferred embodiment m and/or n is an integer between 1 and 1000.

It is most preferred that the polynucleotides of the inventions are derived from Streptococcus pneumoniae, however, they may preferably be obtained from organisms of the same taxonomic genus. They may also be obtained, for example, from organisms of the same taxonomic family or order.

The term “polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide” as used herein encompasses polynucleotides that include a sequence encoding a polypeptide of the invention, particularly a bacterial polypeptide and more particularly a polypeptide of the Streptococcus pneumoniae guaA having an amino acid sequence set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2]. The term also encompasses polynucleotides that include a single continuous region or discontinuous regions encoding the polypeptide (for example, interrupted by integrated phage or an insertion sequence or editing) together with additional regions, that also may contain coding and/or non-coding sequences.

The invention further relates to variants of the polynucleotides described herein that encode for variants of the polypeptide having a deduced amino acid sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2]. Variants that are fragments of the polynucleotides of the invention may be used to synthesize full-length polynucleotides of the invention.

Further particularly preferred embodiments are polynucleotides encoding guaA variants, that have the amino acid sequence of guaA polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2] in which several, a few, 5 to 10, 1 to 5, 1 to 3, 2, 1 or no amino acid residues are substituted, deleted or added, in any combination. Especially preferred among these are silent substitutions, additions and deletions, that do not alter the properties and activities of guaA.

Further preferred embodiments of the invention are polynucleotides that are at least 70% identical over their entire length to a polynucleotide encoding guaA polypeptide having an amino acid sequence set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2], and polynucleotides that are complementary to such polynucleotides. Alternatively, most highly preferred are polynucleotides that comprise a region that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to a polynucleotide encoding guaA polypeptide of the deposited strain and polynucleotides complementary thereto. In this regard, polynucleotides at least 90% identical over their entire length to the same are particularly preferred, and among these particularly preferred polynucleotides, those with at least 95% are especially preferred. Furthermore, those with at least 97% are highly preferred among those with at least 95%/, and among these those with at least 98% and at least 99% are particularly highly preferred, with at least 99% being the more preferred.

Preferred embodiments are polynucleotides that encode polypeptides that retain substantially the same biological function or activity as the mature polypeptide encoded by a DNA of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:1].

The invention further relates to polynucleotides that hybridize to the herein above-described sequences. In this regard, the invention especially relates to polynucleotides that hybridize under stringent conditions to the herein above-described polynucleotides. As herein used, the terms “stringent conditions” and “stringent hybridization conditions” mean hybridization will occur only if there is at least 95% and preferably at least 97% identity between the sequences. An example of stringent hybridization conditions is overnight incubation at 42° C. in a solution comprising: 50% formamide, 5×SSC (150 mM NaCl, 15 mM trisodium citrate), 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH7.6), 5×Denhardt's solution, 10% dextran sulfate, and 20 micrograms/ml denatured, sheared salmon sperm DNA, followed by washing the hybridization support in 0.1×SSC at about 65° C. Hybridization and wash conditions are well known and exemplified in Sambrook, et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., (1989), particularly Chapter 11 therein.

The invention also provides a polynucleotide consisting essentially of a polynucleotide sequence obtainable by screening an appropriate library containing the complete gene for a polynucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 under stringent hybridization conditions with a probe having the sequence of said polynucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or a fragment thereof; and isolating said DNA sequence. Fragments useful for obtaining such a polynucleotide include, for example, probes and primers described elsewhere herein.

As discussed additionally herein regarding polynucleotide assays of the invention, for instance, polynucleotides of the invention as discussed above, may be used as a hybridization probe for RNA, cDNA and genomic DNA to isolate full-length cDNAs and genomic clones encoding guaA and to isolate cDNA and genomic clones of other genes that have a high sequence similarity to the guaA gene. Such probes generally will comprise at least 15 bases. Preferably, such probes will have at least 30 bases and may have at least 50 bases. Particularly preferred probes will have at least 30 bases and will have 50 bases or less.

For example, the coding region of the guaA gene may be isolated by screening using a DNA sequence provided in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO: 1] to synthesize an oligonucleotide probe. A labeled oligonucleotide having a sequence complementary to that of a gene of the invention is then used to screen a library of cDNA, genomic DNA or mRNA to determine which members of the library the probe hybridizes to.

The polynucleotides and polypeptides of the invention may be employed, for example, as research reagents and materials for discovery of treatments of and diagnostics for disease, particularly human disease, as further discussed herein relating to polynucleotide assays.

Polynucleotides of the invention that are oligonucleotides derived from the sequences of Table 1 [SEQ ID NOS:1 or 2] may be used in the processes herein as described, but preferably for PCR, to determine whether or not the polynucleotides identified herein in whole or in part are transcribed in bacteria in infected tissue. It is recognized that such sequences will also have utility in diagnosis of the stage of infection and type of infection the pathogen has attained.

The invention also provides polynucleotides that may encode a polypeptide that is the mature protein plus additional amino or carboxyl-terminal amino acids, or amino acids interior to the mature polypeptide (when the mature form has more than one polypeptide chain, for instance). Such sequences may play a role in processing of a protein from precursor to a mature form, may allow protein transport, may lengthen or shorten protein half-life or may facilitate manipulation of a protein for assay or production, among other things. As generally is the case in vivo, the additional amino acids may be processed away from the mature protein by cellular enzymes.

A precursor protein, having the mature form of the polypeptide fused to one or more prosequences may be an inactive form of the polypeptide. When prosequences are removed such inactive precursors generally are activated. Some or all of the prosequences may be removed before activation. Generally, such precursors are called proproteins.

In addition to the standard A, G, C, T/U representations for nucleic acid bases, the term “N” may also be used in describing certain polynucleotides of the invention. “N” means that any of the four DNA or RNA bases may appear at such a designated position in the DNA or RNA sequence, except it is preferred that N is not a base that when taken in combination with adjacent nucleotide positions, when read in the correct reading frame, would have the effect of generating a premature termination codon in such reading frame.

In sum, a polynucleotide of the invention may encode a mature protein, a mature protein plus a leader sequence (which may be referred to as a preprotein), a precursor of a mature protein having one or more prosequences that are not the leader sequences of a preprotein, or a preproprotein, which is a precursor to a proprotein, having a leader sequence and one or more prosequences, which generally are removed during processing steps that produce active and mature forms of the polypeptide.

Vectors, host cells, expression

The invention also relates to vectors that comprise a polynucleotide or polynucleotides of the invention, host cells that are genetically engineered with vectors of the invention and the production of polypeptides of the invention by recombinant techniques. Cell-free translation systems can also be employed to produce such proteins using RNAs derived from the DNA constructs of the invention.

For recombinant production, host cells can be genetically engineered to incorporate expression systems or portions thereof or polynucleotides of the invention. Introduction of a polynucleotide into the host cell can be effected by methods described in many standard laboratory manuals, such as Davis et al, BASIC METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, (1986) and Sambrook et al., MOLECULAR CLONING: A LABORATORY MANUAL, 2nd Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1989), such as, calcium phosphate transfection, DEAE-dextran mediated transfection, transvection, microinjection, cationic lipid-mediated transfection, electroporation, transduction, scrape loading, ballistic introduction and infection.

Representative examples of appropriate hosts include bacterial cells, such as streptococci, staphylococci, enterococci E. coli, streptomyces and Bacillus subtilis cells; fungal cells, such as yeast cells and Aspergillus cells; insect cells such as Drosophila S2 and Spodoptera Sf9 cells; animal cells such as CHO, COS, HeLa, C127, 3T3, BHK, 293 and Bowes melanoma cells; and plant cells.

A great variety of expression systems can be used to produce the polypeptides of the invention. Such vectors include, among others, chromosomal, episomal and virus-derived vectors, e.g., vectors derived from bacterial plasmid, from bacteriophage, from transposons, from yeast episomes, from insertion elements, from yeast chromosomal elements, from viruses such as baculoviruses, papova viruses, such as SV40, vaccinia viruses, adenoviruses, fowl pox viruses, pseudorabies viruses and retroviruses, and vectors derived from combinations thereof, such as those derived from plasmid and bacteriophage genetic elements, such as cosmids and phagemids. The expression system constructs may contain control regions that regulate as well as engender expression. Generally, any system or vector suitable to maintain, propagate or express polynucleotides and/or to express a polypeptide in a host may be used for expression in this regard. The appropriate DNA sequence may be inserted into the expression system by any of a variety of well-known and routine techniques, such as, for example, those set forth in Sambrook et al., MOLECULAR CLONING, A LABORATORY MANUAL, (supra).

For secretion of the translated protein into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum, into the periplasmic space or into the extracellular environment, appropriate secretion signals may be incorporated into the expressed polypeptide. These signals may be endogenous to the polypeptide or they may be heterologous signals.

Polypeptides of the invention can be recovered and purified from recombinant cell cultures by well-known methods including amnonium sulfate or ethanol precipitation, acid extraction, anion or cation exchange chromatography, phosphocellulose chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, affinity chromatography, hydroxylapatite chromatography, and lectin chromatography. Most preferably, high performance liquid chromatography is employed for purification. Well known techniques for refolding protein may be employed to regenerate active conformation when the polypeptide is denatured during isolation and or purification.

Diagnostic Assays

This invention is also related to the use of the guaA polynucleotides of the invention for use as diagnostic reagents. Detection of guaA in a eukaryote, particularly a mammal, and especially a human, will provide a diagnostic method for diagnosis of a disease. Eukaryotes (herein also “individual(s)”), particularly mammals, and especially humans, particularly those infected or suspected to be infected with an organism comprising the guaA gene may be detected at the nucleic acid level by a variety of techniques.

Nucleic acids for diagnosis may be obtained from an infected individual's cells and tissues, such as bone, blood, muscle, cartilage, and skin. Genomic DNA may be used directly for detection or may be amplified enzymatically by using PCR or other amplification technique prior to analysis. RNA, cDNA and genomic DNA may also be used in the same ways. Using amplification, characterization of the species and strain of prokaryote present in an individual, may be made by an analysis of the genotype of the prokaryote gene. Deletions and insertions can be detected by a change in size of the amplified product in comparison to the genotype of a reference sequence. Point mutations can be identified by hybridizing amplified DNA to labeled guaA polynucleotide sequences. Perfectly matched sequences can be distinguished from mismatched duplexes by RNase digestion or by differences in melting temperatures. DNA sequence differences may also be detected by alterations in the electrophoretic mobility of the DNA fragments in gels, with or without denaturing agents, or by direct DNA sequencing. See, e.g., Myers et al., Science, 230: 1242 (1985). Sequence changes at specific locations also may be revealed by nuclease protection assays, such as RNase and S1 protection or a chemical cleavage method. See, e.g., Cotton et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 85: 4397-4401 (1985).

Cells carrying mutations or polymorphisms in the gene of the invention may also be detected at the DNA level by a variety of techniques, to allow for serotyping, for example. For example, RT-PCR can be used to detect mutations. It is particularly preferred to used RT-PCr in conjunction with automated detection systems, such as, for example, GeneScan. RNA, cDNA or genomic DNA may also be used for the same purpose, PCR or RT-PCR. As an example, PCR primers complementary to a nucleic acid encoding guaA can be used to identify and analyze mutations. Examples of representative primers are shown below in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Primers for amplification of guaA polynucleotides SEQ ID NO PRIMER SEQUENCE 3 5′-CAAAAACGTAAAATCATCGGTAAC-3′ 4 5′-CAAATATCGCGGTCAAGTCCAG-3′

The invention also includes primers of the formula:

X—(R₁)_(m)—(R₂)—(R₃)_(n)—Y

wherein, at the 5′ end of the molecule, X is hydrogen, and at the 3′ end of the molecule, Y is hydrogen or a metal, R₁ and R₃ is any nucleic acid residue, m is an integer between 1 and 20 or zero, n is an integer between 1 and 20 or zero, and R₂ is a primer sequence of the invention, particularly a primer sequence selected from Table 2. In the polynucleotide formula above R₂ is oriented so that its 5′ end residue is at the left, bound to R₁, and its 3′ end residue is at the right, bound to R₃. Any stretch of nucleic acid residues denoted by either R group, where m and/or n is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer being complementary to a region of a polynucleotide of Table 1. In a preferred embodiment m and/or n is an integer between 1 and 10.

The invention further provides these primers with 1, 2, 3 or 4 nucleotides removed from the 5′ and/or the 3′ end. These primers may be used for, among other things, amplifying guaA DNA isolated from a sample derived from an individual. The primers may be used to amplify the gene isolated from an infected individual such that the gene may then be subject to various techniques for elucidation of the DNA sequence. In this way, mutations in the DNA sequence may be detected and used to diagnose infection and to serotype and/or classify the infectious agent.

The invention further provides a process for diagnosing, disease, preferably bacterial infections, more preferably infections by Streptococcus pneumoniae, comprising determining from a sample derived from an individual a increased level of expression of polynucleotide having a sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO: 1]. Increased or decreased expression of guaA polynucleotide can be measured using any on of the methods well known in the art for the quantation of polynucleotides, such as, for example, amplification, PCR, RT-PCR, RNase protection, Northern blotting and other hybridization methods.

In addition, a diagnostic assay in accordance with the invention for detecting over-expression of guaA protein compared to normal control tissue samples may be used to detect the presence of an infection, for example. Assay techniques that can be used to determine levels of a guaA protein, in a sample derived from a host are well-known to those of skill in the art. Such assay methods include radioimmunoassays, competitive-binding assays, Western Blot analysis and ELISA assays.

Antibodies

The polypeptides of the invention or variants thereof, or cells expressing them can be used as an immunogen to produce antibodies immunospecific for such polypeptides. “Antibodies” as used herein includes monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, chimeric, single chain, simianized antibodies and humanized antibodies, as well as Fab fragments, including the products of an Fab immunolglobulin expression library.

Antibodies generated against the polypeptides of the invention can be obtained by administering the polypeptides or epitope-bearing fragments, analogues or cells to an animal, preferably a nonhuman, using routine protocols. For preparation of monoclonal antibodies, any technique known in the art that provides antibodies produced by continuous cell line cultures can be used. Examples include various techniques, such as those in Kohler, G. and Milstein, C., Nature 256: 495-497 (1975); Kozbor et al., Immunology Today 4: 72 (1983); Cole et al., pg. 77-96 in MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AND CANCER THERAPY, Alan R. Liss, Inc. (1985).

Techniques for the production of single chain antibodies (U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,778) can be adapted to produce single chain antibodies to polypeptides of this invention. Also, transgenic mice, or other organisms such as other mammals, may be used to express humanized antibodies.

Alternatively phage display technology may be utilized to select antibody genes with binding activities towards the polypeptide either from repertoires of PCR amplified v-genes of lymphocytes from humans screened for possessing anti-guaA or from naive libraries (McCafferty, J. et al., (1990), Nature 348, 552-554; Marks, J. et al., (1992) Biotechnology 10, 779-783). The affinity of these antibodies can also be improved by chain shuffling (Clackson, T. et al., (1991) Nature 352, 624-628).

If two antigen binding domains are present each domain may be directed against a different epitope—termed ‘bispecific’ antibodies.

The above-described antibodies may be employed to isolate or to identify clones expressing the polypeptides to purify the polypeptides by affinity chromatography.

Thus, among others, antibodies against guaA- polypeptide may be employed to treat infections, particularly bacterial infections.

Polypeptide variants include antigenically, epitopically or immunologically equivalent variants that form a particular aspect of this invention. The term “antigenically equivalent derivative” as used herein encompasses a polypeptide or its equivalent which will be specifically recognized by certain antibodies which, when raised to the protein or polypeptide according to the invention, interfere with the immediate physical interaction between pathogen and mammalian host. The term “immunologically equivalent derivative” as used herein encompasses a peptide or its equivalent which when used in a suitable formulation to raise antibodies in a vertebrate, the antibodies act to interfere with the immediate physical interaction between pathogen and mammalian host.

The polypeptide, such as an antigenically or immunologically equivalent derivative or a fusion protein thereof is used as an antigen to immunize a mouse or other animal such as a rat or chicken. The fusion protein may provide stability to the polypeptide. The antigen may be associated, for example by conjugation, with an immunogenic carrier protein for example bovine serum albumin (BSA) or keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH). Alternatively a multiple antigenic peptide comprising multiple copies of the protein or polypeptide, or an antigenically or immunologically equivalent polypeptide thereof may be sufficiently antigenic to improve immunogenicity so as to obviate the use of a carrier.

Preferably, the antibody or variant thereof is modified to make it less immunogenic in the individual. For example, if the individual is human the antibody may most preferably be “humanized”; where the complimentarity determining region(s) of the hybridoma-derived antibody has been transplanted into a human monoclonal antibody, for example as described in Jones, P. et al. (1986), Nature 321, 522-525 or Tempest et al., (1991) Biotechnology 9, 266-273.

The use of a polynucleotide of the invention in genetic immunization will preferably employ a suitable delivery method such as direct injection of plasmid DNA into muscles (Wolff et al., Hum Mol Genet 1992, 1:363, Manthorpe et al., Hum. Gene Ther. 1963:4, 419), delivery of DNA complexed with specific protein carriers (Wu et al., J Biol Chem. 1989: 264,16985), coprecipitation of DNA with calcium phosphate (Benvenisty & Reshef, PNAS USA, 1986:83,9551), encapsulation of DNA in various forms of liposomes (Kaneda et al., Science 1989:243,375), particle bombardment (Tang et al, Nature 1992, 356:152, Eisenbraun et al, DNA Cell Biol 1993, 12:791) and in vivo infection using cloned retroviral vectors (Seeger et al., PNAS USA 1984:81,5849).

Antagonists and Agonists—Assays and Molecules

Polypeptides of the invention may also be used to assess the binding of small molecule substrates and ligands in, for example, cells, cell-free preparations, chemical libraries, and natural product mixtures. These substrates and ligands may be natural substrates and ligands or may be structural or functional mimetics. See, e.g, Coligan et al, Current Protocols in Immunology 1(2): Chapter 5 (1991).

The invention also provides a method of screening compounds to identify those which enhance (agonist) or block (antagonist) the action of guaA polypeptides or polynucleotides, particularly those compounds that are bacteriostatic and/or bacteriocidal. The method of screening may involve high-throughput techniques. For example, to screen for agonists or antagoists, a synthetic reaction mix, a cellular compartment, such as a membrane, cell envelope or cell wall, or a preparation of any thereof, comprising guaA polypeptide and a labeled substrate or ligand of such polypeptide is incubated in the absence or the presence of a candidate molecule that may be a guaA agonist or antagonist. The ability of the candidate molecule to agonize or antagonize the guaA polypeptide is reflected in decreased binding of the labeled ligand or decreased production of product from such substrate. Molecules that bind gratuitously, i.e., without inducing the effects of guaA polypeptide are most likely to be good antagonists. Molecules that bind well and increase the rate of product production from substrate are agonists. Detection of the rate or level of production of product from substrate may be enhanced by using a reporter system. Reporter systems that may be useful in this regard include but are not limited to colorimetric labeled substrate converted into product, a reporter gene that is responsive to changes in guaA polynucleotide or polypeptide activity, and binding assays known in the art.

Another example of an assay for guaA antagonists is a competitive assay that combines guaA and a potential antagonist with guaA-binding molecules, recombinant guaA binding molecules, natural substrates or ligands, or substrate or ligand mimetics, under appropriate conditions for a competitive inhibition assay. guaA can be labeled, such as by radioactivity or a colorimetric compound, such that the number of guaA molecules bound to a binding molecule or converted to product can be determined accurately to assess the effectiveness of the potential antagonist.

Potential antagonists include small organic molecules, peptides, polypeptides and antibodies that bind to a polynucleotide or polypeptide of the invention and thereby inhibit or extinguish its activity. Potential antagonists also may be small organic molecules, a peptide, a polypeptide such as a closely related protein or antibody that binds the same sites on a binding molecule, such as a binding molecule, without inducing guaA-induced activities, thereby preventing the action of guaA by excluding guaA from binding.

Potential antagonists include a small molecule that binds to and occupies the binding site of the polypeptide thereby preventing binding to cellular binding molecules, such that normal biological activity is prevented. Examples of small molecules include but are not limited to small organic molecules, peptides or peptide-like molecules. Other potential antagonists include antisense molecules (see Okano, J. Neurochem. 56: 560 (1991); OLIGODEOXYNUCLEOTIDES AS ANTISENSE INHIBITORS OF GENE EXPRESSION, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla. (1988), for a description of these molecules). Preferred potential antagonists include compounds related to and variants of guaA.

Each of the DNA sequences provided herein may be used in the discovery and development of antibacterial compounds. The encoded protein, upon expression, can be used as a target for the screening of antibacterial drugs. Additionally, the DNA sequences encoding the amino terminal regions of the encoded protein or Shine-Delgarno or other translation facilitating sequences of the respective MRNA can be used to construct antisense sequences to control the expression of the coding sequence of interest.

The invention also provides the use of the polypeptide, polynucleotide or inhibitor of the invention to interfere with the initial physical interaction between a pathogen and mammalian host responsible for sequelae of infection. In particular the molecules of the invention may be used: in the prevention of adhesion of bacteria, in particular gram positive bacteria, to mammalian extracellular matrix proteins on in-dwelling devices or to extracellular matrix proteins in wounds; to block guaA protein-mediated mammalian cell invasion by, for example, initiating phosphorylation of mammalian tyrosine kinases (Rosenshine et al, Infect. Immun. 60:2211 (1992); to block bacterial adhesion between mammalian extracellular matrix proteins and bacterial guaA proteins that mediate tissue damage and; to block the normal progression of pathogenesis in infections initiated other than by the implantation of in-dwelling devices or by other surgical techniques.

The antagonists and agonists of the invention may be employed, for instance, to inhibit and treat diseases.

Helicobacter pylori (herein H. pylori) bacteria infect the stomachs of over one-third of the world's population causing stomach cancer, ulcers, and gastritis (International Agency for Research on Cancer (1994) Schistosomes, Liver Flukes and Helicobacter pylori (International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France; http://www.uicc.ch/ecp/ecp2904.htm). Moreover, the international Agency for Research on Cancer recently recognized a cause-and-effect relationship between H. pylori and gastric adenocarcinoma, classifying the bacterium as a Group I (definite) carcinogen. Preferred antimicrobial compounds of the invention (agonists and antagonists of guaA) found using screens provided by the invention, particularly broad-spectrum antibiotics, should be useful in the treatment of H. pylori infection. Such treatment should decrease the advent of H. pylori-induced cancers, such as gastrointestinal carcinoma. Such treatment should also cure gastric ulcers and gastritis.

Vaccines

Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for inducing an immunological response in an individual, particularly a mammal which comprises inoculating the individual with guaA, or a fragment or variant thereof, adequate to produce antibody and/or T cell immune response to protect said individual from infection, particularly bacterial infection and most particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae infection. Also provided are methods whereby such immunological response slows bacterial replication. Yet another aspect of the invention relates to a method of inducing immunological response in an individual which comprises delivering to such individual a nucleic acid vector to direct expression of guaA, or a fragment or a variant thereof, for expressing guaA, or a fragment or a variant thereof in vivo in order to induce an immunological response, such as, to produce antibody and/or T cell immune response, including, for example, cytokine-producing T cells or cytotoxic T cells, to protect said individual from disease, whether that disease is already established within the individual or not. One way of administering the gene is by accelerating it into the desired cells as a coating on particles or otherwise. Such nucleic acid vector may comprise DNA, RNA, a modified nucleic acid, or a DNA/RNA hybrid.

A further aspect of the invention relates to an immunological composition which, when introduced into an individual capable or having induced within it an immunological response, induces an immunological response in such individual to a guaA or protein coded therefrom, wherein the composition comprises a recombinant guaA or protein coded therefrom comprising DNA which codes for and expresses an antigen of said guaA or protein coded therefrom. The immunological response may be used therapeutically or prophylactically and may take the form of antibody immunity or cellular immunity such as that arising from CTL or CD4+ T cells.

A guaA polypeptide or a fragment thereof may be fused with co-protein which may not by itself produce antibodies, but is capable of stabilizing the first protein and producing a fused protein which will have immunogenic and protective properties. Thus fused recombinant protein, preferably further comprises an antigenic co-protein, such as lipoprotein D from Hemophilus influenzae, Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) or beta-galactosidase, relatively large co-proteins which solubilize the protein and facilitate production and purification thereof. Moreover, the co-protein may act as an adjuvant in the sense of providing a generalized stimulation of the immune system. The co-protein may be attached to either the amino or carboxy terminus of the first protein.

Provided by this invention are compositions, particularly vaccine compositions, and methods comprising the polypeptides or polynucleotides of the invention and inmmunostimulatory DNA sequences, such as those described in Sato, Y. et al. Science 273: 352 (1996).

Also, provided by this invention are methods using the described polynucleotide or particular fragments thereof which have been shown to encode non-variable regions of bacterial cell surface proteins in DNA constructs used in such genetic immunization experiments in animal models of infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae will be particularly useful for identifying protein epitopes able to provoke a prophylactic or therapeutic immune response. It is believed that this approach will allow for the subsequent preparation of monoclonal antibodies of particular value from the requisite organ of the animal successfully resisting or clearing infection for the development of prophylactic agents or therapeutic treatments of bacterial infection, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, in mammals, particularly humans.

The polypeptide may be used as an antigen for vaccination of a host to produce specific antibodies which protect against invasion of bacteria, for example by blocking adherence of bacteria to damaged tissue. Examples of tissue damage include wounds in skin or connective tissue caused, e.g., by mechanical, chemical or thermal damage or by implantation of indwelling devices, or wounds in the mucous membranes, such as the mouth, mammary glands, urethra or vagina.

The invention also includes a vaccine formulation which comprises an immunogenic recombinant protein of the invention together with a suitable carrier. Since the protein may be broken down in the stomach, it is preferably administered parenterally, including, for example, administration that is subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, or intradermal. Formulations suitable for parenteral administration include aqueous and non-aqueous sterile injection solutions which may contain anti-oxidants, buffers, bacteriostats and solutes which render the formulation insotonic with the bodily fluid, preferably the blood, of the individual; and aqueous and non-aqueous sterile suspensions which may include suspending agents or thickening agents. The formulations may be presented in unit-dose or multi-dose containers, for example, sealed ampules and vials and may be stored in a freeze-dried condition requiring only the addition of the sterile liquid carrier immediately prior to use. The vaccine formulation may also include adjuvant systems for enhancing the immunogenicity of the formulation, such as oil-in water systems and other systems known in the art. The dosage will depend on the specific activity of the vaccine and can be readily determined by routine experimentation.

While the invention has been described with reference to certain guaA protein, it is to be understood that this covers fragments of the naturally occurring protein and similar proteins with additions, deletions or substitutions which do not substantially affect the immunogenic properties of the recombinant protein.

Compositions, Kits and Administration

The invention also relates to compositions comprising the polynucleotide or the polypeptides discussed above or their agonists or antagonists. The polypeptides of the invention may be employed in combination with a non-sterile or sterile carrier or carriers for use with cells, tissues or organisms, such as a pharmaceutical carrier suitable for administration to a subject. Such compositions comprise, for instance, a media additive or a therapeutically effective amount of a polypeptide of the invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient. Such carriers may include, but are not limited to, saline, buffered saline, dextrose, water, glycerol, ethanol and combinations thereof The formulation should suit the mode of administration. The invention further relates to diagnostic and pharmaceutical packs and kits comprising one or more containers filled with one or more of the ingredients of the aforementioned compositions of the invention.

Polypeptides and other compounds of the invention may be employed alone or in conjunction with other compounds, such as therapeutic compounds.

The pharmaceutical compositions may be administered in any effective, convenient manner including, for instance, administration by topical, oral, anal, vaginal, intravenous, intraperitoneal, intramuscular, subcutaneous, intranasal or intradermal routes among others.

In therapy or as a prophylactic, the active agent may be administered to an individual as an injectable composition, for example as a sterile aqueous dispersion, preferably isotonic.

Alternatively the composition may be formulated for topical application for example in the form of ointments, creams, lotions, eye ointments, eye drops, ear drops, mouthwash, impregnated dressings and sutures and aerosols, and may contain appropriate conventional additives, including, for example, preservatives, solvents to assist drug penetration, and emollients in ointments and creams. Such topical formulations may also contain compatible conventional carriers, for example cream or ointment bases, and ethanol or oleyl alcohol for lotions. Such carriers may constitute from about 1% to about 98% by weight of the formulation; more usually they will constitute up to about 80% by weight of the formulation.

For administration to mammals, and particularly humans, it is expected that the daily dosage level of the active agent will be from 0.01 mg/kg to 10 mg/kg, typically around 1 mg/kg. The physician in any event will determine the actual dosage which will be most suitable for an individual and will vary with the age, weight and response of the particular individual. The above dosages are exemplary of the average case. There can, of course, be individual instances where higher or lower dosage ranges are merited, and such are within the scope of this invention.

In-dwelling devices include surgical implants, prosthetic devices and catheters, i.e., devices that are introduced to the body of an individual and remain in position for an extended time. Such devices include, for example, artificial joints, heart valves, pacemakers, vascular grafts, vascular catheters, cerebrospinal fluid shunts, urinary catheters, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) catheters.

The composition of the invention may be administered by injection to achieve a systemic effect against relevant bacteria shortly before insertion of an in-dwelling device. Treatment may be continued after surgery during the in-body time of the device. In addition, the composition could also be used to broaden perioperative cover for any surgical technique to prevent bacterial wound infections, especially Streptococcus pneumoniae wound infections.

Many orthopaedic surgeons consider that humans with prosthetic joints should be considered for antibiotic prophylaxis before dental treatment that could produce a bacteremia. Late deep infection is a serious complication sometimes leading to loss of the prosthetic joint and is accompanied by significant morbidity and mortality. It may therefore be possible to extend the use of the active agent as a replacement for prophylactic antibiotics in this situation.

In addition to the therapy described above, the compositions of this invention may be used generally as a wound treatment agent to prevent adhesion of bacteria to matrix proteins exposed in wound tissue and for prophylactic use in dental treatment as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, antibiotic prophylaxis.

Alternatively, the composition of the invention may be used to bathe an indwelling device immediately before insertion. The active agent will preferably be present at a concentration of 1 μg/ml to 10 mg/ml for bathing of wounds or indwelling devices.

A vaccine composition is conveniently in injectable form. Conventional adjuvants may be employed to enhance the immune response. A suitable unit dose for vaccination is 0.5-5 microgram/kg of antigen, and such dose is preferably administered 1-3 times and with an interval of 1-3 weeks. With the indicated dose range, no adverse toxicological effects will be observed with the compounds of the invention which would preclude their administration to suitable individuals.

Each reference disclosed herein is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Any patent application to which this application claims priority is also incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Glossary

The following definitions are provided to facilitate understanding of certain terms used frequently herein.

“Disease(s)” means and disease caused by or related to infection by a bacteria, including otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospinal fluid.

“Host cell” is a cell which has been transformed or transfected, or is capable of transformation or transfection by an exogenous polynucleotide sequence.

“Identity,” as known in the art, is a relationship between two or more polypeptide sequences or two or more polynucleotide sequences, as the case may be, as determined by comparing the sequences. In the art, “identity” also means the degree of sequence relatedness between polypeptide or polynucleotide sequences, as the case may be, as determined by the match between strings of such sequences. “Identity” can be readily calculated by known methods, including but not limited to those described in (Computational Molecular Biology, Lesk, A. M., ed., Oxford University Press, New York, 1988; Biocomputing: Informatics and Genome Projects, Smith, D. W., ed., Academic Press, New York, 1993; Computer Analysis of Sequence Data, Part I, Griffin, A. M., and Griffin, H. G., eds., Humana Press, New Jersey, 1994; Sequence Analysis in Molecular Biology, von Heinje, G., Academic Press, 1987; and Sequence Analysis Primer, Gribskov, M. and Devereux, J., eds., M Stockton Press, New York, 1991; and Carillo, H., and Lipman, D., SIAM J. Applied Math., 48: 1073 (1988). Methods to determine identity are designed to give the largest match between the sequences tested. Moreover, methods to determine identity are codified in publicly available computer programs. Computer program methods to determine identity between two sequences include, but are not limited to, the GCG program package (Devereux, J., et al., Nucleic Acids Research 12(1): 387 (1984)), BLASTP, BLASTN, and FASTA (Altschul, S.F. et al., J. Molec. Biol. 215: 403-410 (1990). The BLAST X program is publicly available from NCBI and other sources (BLAST Manual, Altschul, S., et al, NCBI NLM NIH Bethesda, Md. 20894; Altschul, S., et al., J Mol. Biol. 215: 403-410 (1990). The well known Smith Waterman algorithm may also be used to determine identity.

Parameters for polypeptide sequence comparison include the following:

Algorithm:Needleman and Wunsch, J. Mol Biol. 48: 443-453 (1970)

Comparison matrix: BLOSSUM62 from Hentikoff and Hentikoff, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 89:10915-10919 (1992)

Gap Penalty: 12

Gap Length Penalty: 4

A program useful with these parameters is publicly available as the “gap” program from Genetics Computer Group, Madison Wis. The aforementioned parameters are the default parameters for peptide comparisons (along with no penalty for end gaps).

Parameters for polynucleotide comparison include the following:

Algorithm: Needleman and Wunsch, J. Mol Biol. 48: 443-453 (1970)

Comparison matrix: matches=+10, mismatch=0

Gap Penalty: 50

Gap Length Penalty: 3

Available as: The “gap” program from Genetics Computer Group, Madison Wis. These are the default parameters for nucleic acid comparisons.

A preferred meaning for “identity” for polynucleotides and polypeptides, as the case may be, are provided in (1) and (2) below.

(1) Polynucleotide embodiments further include an isolated polynucleotide comprising a polynucleotide sequence having at least a 50, 60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 97 or 100% identity to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, wherein said polynucleotide sequence may be identical to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 or may include up to a certain integer number of nucleotide alterations as compared to the reference sequence, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of at least one nucleotide deletion, substitution, including transition and transversion, or insertion, and wherein said alterations may occur at the 5′ or 3′ terminal positions of the reference nucleotide sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions, interspersed either individually among the nucleotides in the reference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within the reference sequence, and wherein said number of nucleotide alterations is determined by multiplying the total number of nucleotides in SEQ ID NO:1 by the integer defining the percent identity divided by 100 and then subtracting that product from said total number of nucleotides in SEQ ID NO:1, or:

n _(n) ≦x _(n)−(x _(n) ·Y),

wherein n_(n) is the number of nucleotide alterations, x_(n) is the total number of nucleotides in SEQ ID NO:1, y is 0.50 for 50%, 0.60 for 60%, 0.70 for 70%, 0.80 for 80%, 0.85 for 85%, 0.90 for 90%, 0.95 for 95%, 0.97 for 97% or 1.00 for 100%, and · is the symbol for the multiplication operator, and wherein any non-integer product of x_(n) and y is rounded down to the nearest integer prior to subtracting it from x_(n). Alterations of a polynucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2 may create nonsense, missense or frameshift mutations in this coding sequence and thereby alter the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide following such alterations.

By way of example, a polynucleotide sequence of the present invention may be identical to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, that is it may be 100% identical, or it may include up to a certain integer number of nucleic acid alterations as compared to the reference sequence such that the percent identity is less than 100% identity. Such alterations are selected from the group consisting of at least one nucleic acid deletion, substitution, including transition and transversion, or insertion, and wherein said alterations may occur at the 5′ or 3′ terminal positions of the reference polynucleotide sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions, interspersed either individually among the nucleic acids in the reference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within the reference sequence. The number of nucleic acid alterations for a given percent identity is determined by multiplying the total number of nucleic acids in SEQ ID NO:1 by the integer defining the percent identity divided by 100 and then subtracting that product from said total number of nucleic acids in SEQ ID NO:1, or:

n _(n) ≦x _(n)−(x _(n) ·Y),

wherein n_(n) is the number of nucleic acid alterations, x_(n) is the total number of nucleic acids in SEQ ID NO:1, y is, for instance 0.70 for 70%, 0.80 for 80%, 0.85 for 85% etc., · is the symbol for the multiplication operator, and wherein any non-integer product of x_(n) and y is rounded down to the nearest integer prior to subtracting it from x_(n).

(2) Polypeptide embodiments further include an isolated polypeptide comprising a polypeptide having at least a 50,60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 97 or 100% identity to a polypeptide reference sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said polypeptide sequence may be identical to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 or may include up to a certain integer number of amino acid alterations as compared to the reference sequence, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of at least one amino acid deletion, substitution, including conservative and non-conservative substitution, or insertion, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino- or carboxy-terminal positions of the reference polypeptide sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions, interspersed either individually among the amino acids in the reference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within the reference sequence, and wherein said number of amino acid alterations is determined by multiplying the total number of amino acids in SEQ ID NO:2 by the integer defining the percent identity divided by 100 and then subtracting that product from said total number of amino acids in SEQ ID NO:2, or:

n _(a) ≦x _(a)−(x _(a) ·Y),

wherein n_(a) is the number of amino acid alterations, x_(a) is the total number of amino acids in SEQ ID NO:2, y is 0.50 for 50%, 0.60 for 60%, 0.70 for 70%, 0.80 for 80%, 0.85 for 85%, 0.90 for 90%, 0.95 for 95%, 0.97 for 97% or 1.00 for 100%, and · is the symbol for the multiplication operator, and wherein any non-integer product of x_(a) and y is rounded down to the nearest integer prior to subtracting it from x_(a).

By way of example, a polypeptide sequence of the present invention may be identical to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, that is it may be 100% identical, or it may include up to a certain integer number of amino acid alterations as compared to the reference sequence such that the percent identity is less than 100% identity. Such alterations are selected from the group consisting of at least one amino acid deletion, substitution, including conservative and non-conservative substitution, or insertion, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino- or carboxy-terminal positions of the reference polypeptide sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions, interspersed either individually among the amino acids in the reference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within the reference sequence. The number of amino acid alterations for a given % identity is determined by multiplying the total number of amino acids in SEQ ID NO:2 by the integer defining the percent identity divided by 100 and then subtracting that product from said total number of amino acids in SEQ ID NO:2, or:

n _(a) ≦x _(a)−(x _(a) ·Y),

wherein n_(a) is the number of amino acid alterations, x_(a) is the total number of amino acids in SEQ ID NO:2, y is, for instance 0.70 for 70%, 0.80 for 80%, 0.85 for 85% etc., and · is the symbol for the multiplication operator, and wherein any non-integer product of x_(a) and y is rounded down to the nearest integer prior to subtracting it from x_(a).

“Isolated” means altered “by the hand of man” from its natural state, i.e., if it occurs in nature, it has been changed or removed from its original environment, or both. For example, a polynucleotide or a polypeptide naturally present in a living organism is not “isolated,” but the same polynucleotide or polypeptide separated from the coexisting materials of its natural state is “isolated”, as the term is employed herein.

“Polynucleotide(s)” generally refers to any polyribonucleotide or polydeoxribonucleotide, which may be unmodified RNA or DNA or modified RNA or DNA. “Polynucleotide(s)” include, without limitation, single- and double-stranded DNA, DNA that is a mixture of single- and double- stranded regions or single-, double- and triple-stranded regions, single- and double-stranded RNA, and RNA that is mixture of single- and double-stranded regions, hybrid molecules comprising DNA and RNA that may be single-stranded or, more typically, double-stranded, or triple-stranded regions, or a mixture of single- and double-stranded regions. In addition, “polynucleotide” as used herein refers to triple-stranded regions comprising RNA or DNA or both RNA and DNA. The strands in such regions may be from the same molecule or from different molecules. The regions may include all of one or more of the molecules, but more typically involve only a region of some of the molecules. One of the molecules of a triple-helical region often is an oligonucleotide. As used herein, the term “polynucleotide(s)” also includes DNAs or RNAs as described above that contain one or more modified bases. Thus, DNAs or RNAs with backbones modified for stability or for other reasons are “polynucleotide(s)” as that tern is intended herein. Moreover, DNAs or RNAs comprising unusual bases, such as inosine, or modified bases, such as tritylated bases, to name just two examples, are polynucleotides as the term is used herein. It will be appreciated that a great variety of modifications have been made to DNA and RNA that serve many useful purposes known to those of skill in the art. The term “polynucleotide(s)” as it is employed herein embraces such chemically, enzymatically or metabolically modified forms of polynucleotides, as well as the chemical forms of DNA and RNA characteristic of viruses and cells, including, for example, simple and complex cells. “Polynucleotide(s)” also embraces short polynucleotides often referred to as oligonucleotide(s).

“Polypeptide(s)” refers to any peptide or protein comprising two or more amino acids joined to each other by peptide bonds or modified peptide bonds. “Polypeptide(s)” refers to both short chains, commonly referred to as peptides, oligopeptides and oligomers and to longer chains generally referred to as proteins. Polypeptides may contain amino acids other than the 20 gene encoded amino acids. “Polypeptide(s)” include those modified either by natural processes, such as processing and other post-translation modifications, but also by chemical modification techniques. Such modifications are well described in basic texts and in more detailed monographs, as well as in a voluminous research literature, and they are well known to those of skill in the art. It will be appreciated that the same type of modification may be present in the same or varying degree at several sites in a given polypeptide. Also, a given polypeptide may contain many types of modifications. Modifications can occur anywhere in a polypeptide, including the peptide backbone, the amino acid side-chains, and the amino or carboxyl termini. Modifications include, for example, acetylation, acylation, ADP-ribosylation, amidation, covalent attachment of flavin, covalent attachment of a heme moiety, covalent attachment of a nucleotide or nucleotide derivative, covalent attachment of a lipid or lipid derivative, covalent attachment of phosphotidylinositol, cross-linking, cyclization, disulfide bond formation, demethylation, formation of covalent cross-links, formation of cysteine, formation of pyroglutamate, formylation, gamma-carboxylation, glycosylation, GPI anchor formation, hydroxylation, iodination, methylation, myristoylation, oxidation, proteolytic processing, phosphorylation, prenylation, racemization, glycosylation, lipid attachment, sulfation, gamma-carboxylation of glutamic acid residues, hydroxylation and ADP-ribosylation, selenoylation, sulfation, transfer-RNA mediated addition of amino acids to proteins, such as arginylation, and ubiquitination. See, for instance, PROTEINS—STRUCTURE AND MOLECULAR PROPERTIES, 2nd Ed., T. E. Creighton, W. H. Freeman and Company, New York (1993) and Wold, F., Posttranslation Protein Modifications: Perspectives and Prospects, pgs. 1-12 in POSTTRANSLATIONAL COVALENT MODIFICATION OF PROTEINS, B. C. Johnson, Ed., Academic Press, New York (1983); Seifter et al., Meth. Enzymol. 182:626-646 (1990) and Rattan et al., Protein Synthesis: Posttranslation Modifications and Aging, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 663: 48-62 (1992). Polypeptides may be branched or cyclic, with or without branching. Cyclic, branched and branched circular polypeptides may result from post-translation natural processes and may be made by entirely synthetic methods, as well.

“Variant(s)” as the term is used herein, is a polynucleotide or polypeptide that differs from a reference polynucleotide or polypeptide respectively, but retains essential properties. A typical variant of a polynucleotide differs in nucleotide sequence from another, reference polynucleotide. Changes in the nucleotide sequence of the variant may or may not alter the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide encoded by the reference polynucleotide. Nucleotide changes may result in amino acid substitutions, additions, deletions, fusions and truncations in the polypeptide encoded by the reference sequence, as discussed below. A typical variant of a polypeptide differs in amino acid sequence from another, reference polypeptide. Generally, differences are limited so that the sequences of the reference polypeptide and the variant are closely similar overall and, in many regions, identical. A variant and reference polypeptide may differ in amino acid sequence by one or more substitutions, additions, deletions in any combination. A substituted or inserted amino acid residue may or may not be one encoded by the genetic code. A variant of a polynucleotide or polypeptide may be a naturally occurring such as an allelic variant, or it may be a variant that is not known to occur naturally. Non-naturally occurring variants of polynucleotides and polypeptides may be made by mutagenesis techniques, by direct synthesis, and by other recombinant methods known to skilled artisans.

EXAMPLES

The example s below are carried out using standard techniques, which are well known and routine to those of skill in the art, except where otherwise described in detail. The examples are illustrative, but do not limit the invention.

Example 1 Strain Selection, Library Production and Sequencing

The polynucleotide having a DNA sequence given in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:1] was obtained from a library of clones of chromosomal DNA of Streptococcus pneumoniae in E. coli . The sequencing data from two or more clones containing overlapping Streptococcus pneumoniae DNAs was used to construct the contiguous DNA sequence in SEQ ID NO:1. Libraries may be prepared by routine methods using, for example, Method 1 or 2 below.

Total cellular DNA is isolated from Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 according to standard procedures and size-fractionated by either of two methods.

Method 1

Total cellular DNA is mechanically sheared by passage through a needle in order to size-fractionate according to standard procedures. DNA fragments of up to 11 kbp in size are rendered blunt by treatment with exonuclease and DNA polymerase, and EcoRI linkers added. Fragments are ligated into the vector Lambda ZapII that has been cut with EcoRI, the library packaged by standard procedures and E. coli infected with the packaged library. The library is amplified by standard procedures.

Method 2

Total cellular DNA is partially hydrolyzed with a one or a combination of restriction enzymes appropriate to generate a series of fragments for cloning into library vectors (e.g., RsaI, Pall, AluI, Bshl2351I), and such fragments are size-fractionated according to standard procedures. EcoRI linkers are ligated to the DNA and the fragments then ligated into the vector Lambda ZapII that have been cut with EcoRI, the library packaged by standard procedures, and E. coli infected with the packaged library. The library is amplified by standard procedures.

Example 2 The Determination of Expression During Infection of a Gene From Streptococcus pneumoniae

Excised lungs from a 48 hour respiratory tract infection of Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 in the mouse is efficiently disrupted and processed in the presence of chaotropic agents and RNAase inhibitor to provide a mixture of animal and bacterial RNA. The optimal conditions for disruption and processing to give stable preparations and high yields of bacterial RNA are followed by the use of hybridisation to a radiolabelled oligonucleotide specific to Streptococcus pneumoniae 16S RNA on Northern blots. The RNAase free, DNAase free, DNA and protein free preparations of RNA obtained are suitable for Reverse Transcription PCR (RT-PCR) using unique primer pairs designed from the sequence of each gene of Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993.

a) Isolation of tissue infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 from a mouse animal model of infection (lungs). Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 is grown either on TSA/5%horse blood plates or in AGCH medium overnight, 37° C., 5%CO₂. Bacteria are then collected and resuspended in phosphate-buffered saline to an A₆₀₀ of approximately 0.4. Mice are an esthetized with isofluorane and 50 ml of bacterial suspension (approximately 2×10⁵ bacteria) is administered intranasally using a pipetman. Mice are allowed to recover and have food and water ad libitum. After 48 hours, the mice are euthanized by carbon dioxide overdose, and lungs are aseptically removed and snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen.

b) Isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 RNA from infected tissue samples. Infected tissue samples, in 2-ml cryo-strorage tubes, are removed from −80° C. storage into a dry ice ethanol bath. In a microbiological safety cabinet the samples are disrupted up to eight at a time while the remaining samples are kept frozen in the dry ice ethanol bath. To disrupt the bacteria within the tissue sample, 50-100 mg of the tissue is transfered to a FastRNA tube containing a silica/ceramic matrix (BIO101). Immediately, 1 ml of extraction reagents (FastRNA reagents, BIO101) are added to give a sample to reagent volume ratio of approximately 1 to 20. The tubes are shaken in a reciprocating shaker (FastPrep FP120, BIO101) at 6000 rpm for 20-120 sec. The crude RNA preparation is extracted with chloroform/isoamyl alcohol, and precipitated with DEPC-treated/Isopropanol Precipitation Solution (BIO101). RNA preparations are stored in this isopropanol solution at −80° C. if necessary. The RNA is pelleted (12,000 g for 10 min.), washed with 75% ethanol (v/v in DEPC-treated water), air-dried for 5-10 min. and resuspended in 0.1 ml of DEPC-treated water, followed by 5-10 minutes at 55° C. Finally, after at least 1 minute on ice, 200 units of Rnasin (Promega) is added.

RNA preparations are stored at −80° C. for up to one month. For longer term storage the RNA precipitate can be stored at the wash stage of the protocol in 75% ethanol for at least one year at −20° C.

Quality of the RNA isolated is assessed by running samples on 1% agarose gels. 1×TBE gels stained with ethidium bromide are used to visualise total RNA yields. To demonstrate the isolation of bacterial RNA from the infected tissue 1×MOPS, 2.2M formaldehyde gels are run and vacuum blotted to Hybond-N (Amersham). The blot is then hybridised with a ³²P-labelled oligonucletide probe, of sequence 5′ AACTGAGACTGGCTTAAGAGATTA 3′ [SEQ ID NO:5], specific to 16S rRNA of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The size of the hybridising band is compared to that of control RNA isolated from in vitro grown Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 in the Northern blot. Correct sized bacterial 16S rRNA bands can be detected in total RNA samples which show degradation of the mammalian RNA when visualised on TBE gels.

c) The removal of DNA from Streptococcus pneumoniae-derived RNA. DNA was removed from 50 microgram samples of RNA by a 30 minute treatment at 37° C. with 20 units of RNAase-free DNAaseI (GenHunter) in the buffer supplied in a final volume of 57 microliters.

The DNAase was inactivated and removed by treatment with TRIzol LS Reagent (Gibco BRL, Life Technologies) according to the manufacturers protocol. DNAase treated RNA was resuspended in 100 microliters of DEPC treated water with the addition of Rnasin as described before.

d) The preparation of cDNA from RNA samples derived from infected tissue. 3 microgram samples of DNAase treated RNA are reverse transcribed using a SuperScript Preamplification System for First Strand cDNA Synthesis kit (Gibco BRL, Life Technologies) according to the manufacturers instructions. 150 nanogram of random hexamers is used to prime each reaction. Controls without the addition of SuperScriptII reverse transcriptase are also run. Both +/−RT samples are treated with RNaseH before proceeding to the PCR reaction.

e) The use of PCR to determine the presence of a bacterial cDNA species. PCR reactions are set up on ice in 0.2 ml tubes by adding the following components: 43 microliters PCR Master Mix (Advanced Biotechnologies Ltd.); 1 microliter PCR primers (optimally 18-25 basepairs in length and designed to possess similar annealing temperatures), each primer at 10 mM initial concentration; and 5 microliters cDNA.

PCR reactions are run on a Perkin Elmer GeneAmp PCR System 9600 as follows: 2 minutes at 94° C., then 50 cycles of 30 seconds each at 94° C., 50° C. and 72° C. followed by 7 minutes at 72° C. and then a hold temperature of 20° C. (the number of cycles is optimally 30-50 to determine the appearance or lack of a PCR product and optimally 8-30 cycles if an estimation of the starting quantity of cDNA from the RT reaction is to be made); 10 microliter aliquots are then run out on 1% 1×TBE gels stained with ethidium bromide, with PCR product, if present, sizes estimated by comparison to a 100 bp DNA Ladder (Gibco BRL, Life Technologies). Alternatively if the PCR products are conveniently labelled by the use of a labelled PCR primer (e.g. labelled at the 5′ end with a dye) a suitable aliquot of the PCR product is run out on a polyacrylamide sequencing gel and its presence and quantity detected using a suitable gel scanning system (e.g. ABI Prism™ 377 Sequencer using GeneScan™ software as supplied by Perkin Elmer).

RT/PCR controls may include +/− reverse transcriptase reactions, 16S rRNA primers or DNA specific primer pairs designed to produce PCR products from non-transcribed Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 genomic sequences.

To test the efficiency of the primer pairs they are used in DNA PCR with Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 total DNA. PCR reactions are set up and run as described above using approx. 1 microgram of DNA in place of the cDNA.

Primer pairs which fail to give the predicted sized product in either DNA PCR or RT/PCR are PCR failures and as such are uninformative. Of those which give the correct size product with DNA PCR two classes are distinguished in RT/PCR: 1.Genes which are not transcribed in vivo reproducibly fail to give a product in RT/PCR; and 2.Genes which are transcribed in vivo reproducibly give the correct size product in RT/PCR and show a stronger signal in the +RT samples than the signal (if at all present) in −RT controls.

5 1 1551 DNA Streptococcus pneumoniae CDS (1)...(1548) 1 ctg att tgc caa gat gta gaa aaa atc atc ggt att ggg act atg ggt 48 Leu Ile Cys Gln Asp Val Glu Lys Ile Ile Gly Ile Gly Thr Met Gly 1 5 10 15 agc cag tac aac cag ctg att tca cgc cgt atc cgt gag att ggt gtt 96 Ser Gln Tyr Asn Gln Leu Ile Ser Arg Arg Ile Arg Glu Ile Gly Val 20 25 30 ttt tca gaa cta aaa agc cat aaa att tca gct gct gaa gtt cgt gaa 144 Phe Ser Glu Leu Lys Ser His Lys Ile Ser Ala Ala Glu Val Arg Glu 35 40 45 gtc aat cct gta gga att att cta tca ggt gat cca aat tct gta tat 192 Val Asn Pro Val Gly Ile Ile Leu Ser Gly Asp Pro Asn Ser Val Tyr 50 55 60 gaa gat ggt tca ttt gac att gac cca gaa atc ttc gaa cta gga att 240 Glu Asp Gly Ser Phe Asp Ile Asp Pro Glu Ile Phe Glu Leu Gly Ile 65 70 75 80 cca att ttg gga atc tgt tat ggt atg cag tta ttg acc cat aaa ctt 288 Pro Ile Leu Gly Ile Cys Tyr Gly Met Gln Leu Leu Thr His Lys Leu 85 90 95 gga gga aaa gtt gtt cct gca ggt gat gct gga aat cgt gaa tac ggt 336 Gly Gly Lys Val Val Pro Ala Gly Asp Ala Gly Asn Arg Glu Tyr Gly 100 105 110 caa tca acc cta act cac aca cca tca gcg caa ttt gaa tca aca cct 384 Gln Ser Thr Leu Thr His Thr Pro Ser Ala Gln Phe Glu Ser Thr Pro 115 120 125 gat gaa cag act gtt ttg atg agc cat ggt gat gcg gtt act gag att 432 Asp Glu Gln Thr Val Leu Met Ser His Gly Asp Ala Val Thr Glu Ile 130 135 140 cct gct gac ttt gtt cgt aca ggt aca tca gct gac tgc cca tac gca 480 Pro Ala Asp Phe Val Arg Thr Gly Thr Ser Ala Asp Cys Pro Tyr Ala 145 150 155 160 gcc atc gaa aac cca gat aaa cac att tac ggt atc caa ttc cac cca 528 Ala Ile Glu Asn Pro Asp Lys His Ile Tyr Gly Ile Gln Phe His Pro 165 170 175 gaa gtt cgt cat tct gta tac gga aat gat atc ctt cgt aac ttt gcc 576 Glu Val Arg His Ser Val Tyr Gly Asn Asp Ile Leu Arg Asn Phe Ala 180 185 190 ctt aac att tgt aag gct aaa ggt gac tgg tca atg gat aat ttc att 624 Leu Asn Ile Cys Lys Ala Lys Gly Asp Trp Ser Met Asp Asn Phe Ile 195 200 205 gac atg cag atc aaa aaa att cgt gaa acc gtc ggt gat aaa cgt gtc 672 Asp Met Gln Ile Lys Lys Ile Arg Glu Thr Val Gly Asp Lys Arg Val 210 215 220 ctt ctt ggt cta tca ggt ggt gtt gac tca tct gtc gtt ggg gtt ctt 720 Leu Leu Gly Leu Ser Gly Gly Val Asp Ser Ser Val Val Gly Val Leu 225 230 235 240 ctc caa aaa gcg att ggc gat caa ttg atc tgt atc ttc gta gac cac 768 Leu Gln Lys Ala Ile Gly Asp Gln Leu Ile Cys Ile Phe Val Asp His 245 250 255 ggt ctt ctt cgt aaa ggc gaa gct gat caa gtt atg gac atg ctc ggt 816 Gly Leu Leu Arg Lys Gly Glu Ala Asp Gln Val Met Asp Met Leu Gly 260 265 270 ggt aag ttt ggt ttg aat atc gtc aaa gca gac gct gct aaa cgt ttc 864 Gly Lys Phe Gly Leu Asn Ile Val Lys Ala Asp Ala Ala Lys Arg Phe 275 280 285 ctt gac aaa ctt gct ggc gtt tct gac cct gaa caa aaa cgt aaa atc 912 Leu Asp Lys Leu Ala Gly Val Ser Asp Pro Glu Gln Lys Arg Lys Ile 290 295 300 atc ggt aac gag ttt gtc tat gta ttc gat gac gaa gca agc aag ctc 960 Ile Gly Asn Glu Phe Val Tyr Val Phe Asp Asp Glu Ala Ser Lys Leu 305 310 315 320 aaa gat gtg aaa ttc ctt gct caa ggt act tta tat aca gat gtt atc 1008 Lys Asp Val Lys Phe Leu Ala Gln Gly Thr Leu Tyr Thr Asp Val Ile 325 330 335 gag tct ggt acg gat aca gct caa act atc aag tca cac cac aac gtg 1056 Glu Ser Gly Thr Asp Thr Ala Gln Thr Ile Lys Ser His His Asn Val 340 345 350 ggt ggt ctt cca gaa gat atg cag ttt gaa ttg att gaa cca ctc aat 1104 Gly Gly Leu Pro Glu Asp Met Gln Phe Glu Leu Ile Glu Pro Leu Asn 355 360 365 act ctt tac aag gat gaa gtt cgt gct ctt ggt aca gag ctt ggt atg 1152 Thr Leu Tyr Lys Asp Glu Val Arg Ala Leu Gly Thr Glu Leu Gly Met 370 375 380 cca gac cat atc gta tgg cgc caa cca ttc cca gga cca gga ctt gct 1200 Pro Asp His Ile Val Trp Arg Gln Pro Phe Pro Gly Pro Gly Leu Ala 385 390 395 400 atc cgt gtc atg ggt gaa atc act gaa gag aaa ctt gaa acc gtt cgt 1248 Ile Arg Val Met Gly Glu Ile Thr Glu Glu Lys Leu Glu Thr Val Arg 405 410 415 gaa tca gac gct att ctt cgt gaa gaa atc gct aaa gct gga ctt gac 1296 Glu Ser Asp Ala Ile Leu Arg Glu Glu Ile Ala Lys Ala Gly Leu Asp 420 425 430 cgc gat att tgg caa tac ttc act gtt aac aca ggc gtt cgt tca gtc 1344 Arg Asp Ile Trp Gln Tyr Phe Thr Val Asn Thr Gly Val Arg Ser Val 435 440 445 ggc gtt atg ggt gac ggt cgt acg tat gac tac acg att gca atc cgt 1392 Gly Val Met Gly Asp Gly Arg Thr Tyr Asp Tyr Thr Ile Ala Ile Arg 450 455 460 gct atc act tct atc gat ggt atg act gct gat ttt gcc aaa att cca 1440 Ala Ile Thr Ser Ile Asp Gly Met Thr Ala Asp Phe Ala Lys Ile Pro 465 470 475 480 tgg gaa gta ctt caa aaa atc tca gta cgt atc gta aat gaa gtg gat 1488 Trp Glu Val Leu Gln Lys Ile Ser Val Arg Ile Val Asn Glu Val Asp 485 490 495 cat gtt aac cgt atc gtc tac gat att aca agt aaa cca cct gca aca 1536 His Val Asn Arg Ile Val Tyr Asp Ile Thr Ser Lys Pro Pro Ala Thr 500 505 510 gtt gag tgg gaa taa 1551 Val Glu Trp Glu 515 2 516 PRT Streptococcus pneumoniae 2 Leu Ile Cys Gln Asp Val Glu Lys Ile Ile Gly Ile Gly Thr Met Gly 1 5 10 15 Ser Gln Tyr Asn Gln Leu Ile Ser Arg Arg Ile Arg Glu Ile Gly Val 20 25 30 Phe Ser Glu Leu Lys Ser His Lys Ile Ser Ala Ala Glu Val Arg Glu 35 40 45 Val Asn Pro Val Gly Ile Ile Leu Ser Gly Asp Pro Asn Ser Val Tyr 50 55 60 Glu Asp Gly Ser Phe Asp Ile Asp Pro Glu Ile Phe Glu Leu Gly Ile 65 70 75 80 Pro Ile Leu Gly Ile Cys Tyr Gly Met Gln Leu Leu Thr His Lys Leu 85 90 95 Gly Gly Lys Val Val Pro Ala Gly Asp Ala Gly Asn Arg Glu Tyr Gly 100 105 110 Gln Ser Thr Leu Thr His Thr Pro Ser Ala Gln Phe Glu Ser Thr Pro 115 120 125 Asp Glu Gln Thr Val Leu Met Ser His Gly Asp Ala Val Thr Glu Ile 130 135 140 Pro Ala Asp Phe Val Arg Thr Gly Thr Ser Ala Asp Cys Pro Tyr Ala 145 150 155 160 Ala Ile Glu Asn Pro Asp Lys His Ile Tyr Gly Ile Gln Phe His Pro 165 170 175 Glu Val Arg His Ser Val Tyr Gly Asn Asp Ile Leu Arg Asn Phe Ala 180 185 190 Leu Asn Ile Cys Lys Ala Lys Gly Asp Trp Ser Met Asp Asn Phe Ile 195 200 205 Asp Met Gln Ile Lys Lys Ile Arg Glu Thr Val Gly Asp Lys Arg Val 210 215 220 Leu Leu Gly Leu Ser Gly Gly Val Asp Ser Ser Val Val Gly Val Leu 225 230 235 240 Leu Gln Lys Ala Ile Gly Asp Gln Leu Ile Cys Ile Phe Val Asp His 245 250 255 Gly Leu Leu Arg Lys Gly Glu Ala Asp Gln Val Met Asp Met Leu Gly 260 265 270 Gly Lys Phe Gly Leu Asn Ile Val Lys Ala Asp Ala Ala Lys Arg Phe 275 280 285 Leu Asp Lys Leu Ala Gly Val Ser Asp Pro Glu Gln Lys Arg Lys Ile 290 295 300 Ile Gly Asn Glu Phe Val Tyr Val Phe Asp Asp Glu Ala Ser Lys Leu 305 310 315 320 Lys Asp Val Lys Phe Leu Ala Gln Gly Thr Leu Tyr Thr Asp Val Ile 325 330 335 Glu Ser Gly Thr Asp Thr Ala Gln Thr Ile Lys Ser His His Asn Val 340 345 350 Gly Gly Leu Pro Glu Asp Met Gln Phe Glu Leu Ile Glu Pro Leu Asn 355 360 365 Thr Leu Tyr Lys Asp Glu Val Arg Ala Leu Gly Thr Glu Leu Gly Met 370 375 380 Pro Asp His Ile Val Trp Arg Gln Pro Phe Pro Gly Pro Gly Leu Ala 385 390 395 400 Ile Arg Val Met Gly Glu Ile Thr Glu Glu Lys Leu Glu Thr Val Arg 405 410 415 Glu Ser Asp Ala Ile Leu Arg Glu Glu Ile Ala Lys Ala Gly Leu Asp 420 425 430 Arg Asp Ile Trp Gln Tyr Phe Thr Val Asn Thr Gly Val Arg Ser Val 435 440 445 Gly Val Met Gly Asp Gly Arg Thr Tyr Asp Tyr Thr Ile Ala Ile Arg 450 455 460 Ala Ile Thr Ser Ile Asp Gly Met Thr Ala Asp Phe Ala Lys Ile Pro 465 470 475 480 Trp Glu Val Leu Gln Lys Ile Ser Val Arg Ile Val Asn Glu Val Asp 485 490 495 His Val Asn Arg Ile Val Tyr Asp Ile Thr Ser Lys Pro Pro Ala Thr 500 505 510 Val Glu Trp Glu 515 3 24 DNA Streptococcus pneumoniae 3 caaaaacgta aaatcatcgg taac 24 4 22 DNA Streptococcus pneumoniae 4 caaatatcgc ggtcaagtcc ag 22 5 25 DNA Streptococcus pneumoniae 5 aactgagact ggctttaaga gatta 25 

What is claimed is:
 1. An isolated polynucleotide, comprising a first polynucleotide, wherein the first polynucleotide encodes the same polypeptide, expressed by the guaA gene encoded by a nucleic acid sequence comprising SEQ ID NO:1 contained in Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 contained in NCIMB Deposit No. 40794; and, wherein the isolated polynucleotide is replicable in a plasmid vector.
 2. The isolated polynucleotide of claim 1 encoding a fusion polypeptide, wherein the first polynucleotide encodes part of the fusion polypeptide.
 3. An isolated polynucleotide comprising a first polynucleotide, wherein the first polynucleotide encodes a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2; and, wherein the isolated polynucleotide is replicable in a plasmid vector.
 4. A vector comprising the isolated polynucleotide of claim
 3. 5. An isolated host cell comprising the vector of claim
 4. 6. A process for producing a polypeptide comprising culturing the host cell of claim 5 under conditions sufficient for the production of the polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide is encoded by the first polynucleotide.
 7. An isolated polynucleotide comprising a first polynucleotide, wherein the first polynucleotide encodes a polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2; and, wherein the isolated polynucleotide is replicable in a plasmid vector.
 8. A vector comprising the isolated polynucleotide of claim
 7. 9. An isolated host cell comprising the vector of claim
 8. 10. A process for producing a polypeptide comprising culturing the host cell of claim 9 under conditions sufficient for the production of the polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide is encoded by the first polynucleotide.
 11. An isolated polynucleotide comprising a first polynucleotide, wherein the first polynucleotide comprises SEQ ID NO:1; and, wherein the isolated polynucleotide is replicable in a plasmid vector.
 12. A vector comprising the isolated polynucleotide of claim
 11. 13. An isolated host cell comprising the vector of claim
 12. 14. A process for producing a polypeptide comprising culturing the host cell of claim 13 under conditions sufficient for the production of the polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide, is encoded by the first polynucleotide.
 15. A vector comprising a first polynucleotide or the full complement of the entire length of the first polynucleotide, wherein the first polynucleotide comprises SEQ ID NO:1; and, wherein the isolated polynucleotide is replicable in a plasmid vector.
 16. An isolated host cell comprising the vector of claim
 15. 17. A process for producing a polypeptide comprising the step of culturing the host cell of claim 16 under conditions sufficient for the production of the polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide is encoded by the first polynucleotide. 